After two years we are on our way to see family and friends in Cape Town! We will be there DV tomorrow! The kids have lists of things to eat, things to buy, and places to go. Linkway, Cross Trainers, Revolve, ACS-gymnastics, E-sports-tumbling, tennis, milkshakes, Steers Burgers, Wimpy coffee, family braais… We will see how we fit it all in. : )
For the next three weeks we will trade la Tour Eiffel for Table Mountain!
We have been in Beynes for a year and in France for two years. Actually two months more, to be precise, but I just haven’t got to writing this post. You get busier, which means that live is turning back to normal.
School closed in June for the nice, two and a half month, summer holiday. Two years ago the children arrived with a french vocabulary of ‘Bonjour, comment ça va?’ They had to go straight into french public schools and now they can proudly add french as their third language.
The beginning of this year was a bit difficult again as they were now part of the normal classes. No more help from a special french teacher. At the end of the first term the boys were still a bit under class average and some teachers thought that maybe we should look for an English school.
We thought: ‘You don’t work this hard and get this far, and then give up.’ As always the boys just carried on, didn’t get discouraged, made friends, had fun, worked hard and finished the year well above class average. We are really, really proud.
They will be in Terminal when school starts in September. The final school year. In the next months the decisions for university will be made. What and where, we will see.
The girls did so well, that I can’t really say much about them. They are now just two ‘french’ girls in a french school, who get very good marks. : ) For Mandi its off to Lycée for grade 10 and she will be in the same school as the boys.
Everyone is still very much involved in sport. Franci doing gymnastics. Jaco with tennis and karate. Pieter and Mandi at tumbling. In September we will see what the next year brings.
The rest of us still do the same thing. Danie works at work and then works at home : ) I see that everyone eats and have clean clothes and… walk around in Paris. : ) The two of us can’t really add french as our third language yet. I do get along and can organize what needs to be done. Mistakes do happen sometimes though…
For the first teacher’s meeting this year, we received letters which I had to return with a choice between: J’assiste and J’assiste pas. So, of course I said that I can’t assist, not with my bad french. At the meeting Franci’s teacher skipped her name every time she had to hand out something, so after a while I told her that we are actually there, and I couldn’t understand why she looked so puzzled. Ok, now I also know that assiste actually means attend. : ) So we learn.
Jaco and Pieter are busy with driving lessons. In french and on the wrong side of the road of course. : ) I can already see how I am going to send them around soon. : )
For now we will leave la Tour Eiffel with her friends…
…to enjoy family and friends and September we will be ready to start the third school year in France.
à bientot Paris, and…
à demain for everyone in Cape Town!
From Koegas To Paris 
